When Heidi from Waterfield Bags wrote to tell me about the Rough Rider, I had no choice but to write about it. It’s called the Rough Rider after all, which pretty much means I can make as many “going commando” and “bareback” jokes as I like.

It’s almost too easy.

So easy, in fact, that I won’t bother. Instead, let’s talk about the sewing machine that the folks at Waterfield use to put this bag together. It’s from the 1940s and it can sew a penny to a piece of wood. Which is pretty useful if you’re trying to cheap out on new buttons for that wooden overcoat you’ve been meaning to fix.

The bag is fashioned from leather, with the edges left unfinished to make it even more masculine, and inside you’ll find all the pockets a modern-day explorer needs: phone, padded notebook pocket and so on. And here’s where you’ll find smooth, colored nylon to both protect your gadgets and to contrast with the rough exterior.

It also has a neat compression strap system, where the shoulder strap runs through a couple of leather hoops. This lets the strap stay at a comfortable angle to the body and yet still be an extension of the front panel. There’s no way this strap is going to come off by itself.

It looks magnificent, and I love the way the clean, modern lines of the design contrast with the rough, grizzled leather finish. It’s almost like a mix-up between between a young, smooth, perfectly toned body and an old hairy bear. Damn. I made the rough-rider joke after all.

The bag is available for pre-order now, for delivery next month, priced at $335.